@darkmage0707077 , so you see the game as installed on the EA App, but it does not start correct? I know there have been problems lately with the EA App being down, so try one more time to start the game.
If you cannot get the game to start at all, check the EA App forums to see if other players have had similar problems with other games and maybe they will give you some other steps on how to troubleshoot and start your game.
Thanks, Tremayne. Unfortunately, trying again changed nothing, and I can't find any other threads with similar issues when I look. Several about Windows 10 issues, sure, but the errors aren't the same or the solutions are things I've already tried.
@darkmage0707077 , I know at one time there was an issue with the game installing and playing because a .exe file was missing. Have you contacted EA Helpline to see if they can help?
Hey, unfortunately, EA Helpline wasn't able to assist.
Do you know what .exe file was missing? I wanted to check and see if I could find it, as I didn't see anything obviously missing when I checked the game folder. I'm almost to the point of digging out my original disc and trying to install that unpatched.
@darkmage0707077 , if you have the original disk, please do install the game from it. It seems once it's installed from the disk, the game launches on the EA App with no issues.
Well, I have SOME good news, sort of.
Unfortunately, my original disc was scratched beyond repair, so I had to track down a new copy of the game. I managed to get the same version as I originally owned, and installed it fine. Trying it without patching first showed the same behavior as before.
However, after patching to 2.0.113, I HAVE been able to get the game to finally start...sort of.
Unfortunately, all that happens is that the game starts in the background. If I open task managed, I can see it running back there, and there is system activity to show that it's running. But it won't actually *start*, i.e. the program doesn't take over, play intro, etc. Checking Task Manager, Windows 10 appears to be treating it like it's a background process instead of an application, so is preventing it from running in foreground. Same if I now try to launch it from EA App, and choosing to try to Repair the game puts it back to the original broken behavior, requiring a re-install from disc.
Any way to force Windows to treat the application as an application? No compatibility settings I try change this.
@darkmage0707077 , have you tried launching the game directly from the .exe file? It bypasses the launcher and starts the game directly.
I am SO sorry for the delay in responding; life has become incredibly busy! Thank you again for taking the time to assist me on this!
Yeah, unfortunately, I tried launching direct from the .exe. Same thing - it runs as a background task. I end up having to use Task Manager to force-close the application.
@darkmage0707077 , and the Powershell script doesn't work either?
I'm having the same problem. Loaded and installed Sims Medieval with the EA app. (I'm using windows 11, though)
Click on "Play" EA app disappears, then reappears. Game never starts.
I've tried reinstalling, running as administrator... still not working at all.
Here is the link...
You will have to change Sims 3 to Sims Medieval
GOT IT! The game has launched and I have full control! Had to lose all my saves, but whatever, I can rebuild my kingdoms thanks to your help, Termayne! Thank you for being so patient with me!
Details on the issue:
Ultimately, the game running as a "background process" was a red haring caused by corrupt files. EA's launcher's REPAIR tool fixed it up at the end, but I was actually able to use it to my advantage for the real fix, as per below.
So, I tried the Powershell script, and similar to how others reported in this thread, it didn't work for me, even after redirecting it to point to Medieval instead of 3. Looking closely at the code, I realized it was trying to set CPU Affinity to 1 for the process - in other words, to disable multi-core on the game and set it to single core only.
The issue with Medieval compared to 3 is that it doesn't seem to like Multi-Core CPUs AT ALL. The instant it tries to start a multi-core process, it dies. The Powershell script can't react fast enough to change it because core count seems to literally be set to "T=0" for Medieval, whereas 3 probably gives some leeway that the script can take advantage of.
So the solution to my issue was to very quickly alter the permanent affinity for the process directly and permanently. I did this using Project Lasso, a free-to-use tool for messing with CPU settings in Windows (I use it for my Minecraft stuff, among other things).
Before messing with Project Lasso, or anything else involving CPU Affinity, I should warn everyone to BE VERY VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS, as this can not only corrupt your game if done wrong, but if you accidentally flip the wrong switch on a Windows process, you can corrupt your entire system and have to reinstall Windows completely. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
So what I ended up doing was having Lasso opened when I booted up TSM. Then, while TSM was open and showing in processes, I quickly right clicked on it and selected it in Lasso. I was able to do it easily at first due to the corruption issue from before, but afterwards, tested and found that if you're quick, Lasso will still change the Affinity for you even if the process isn't running anymore - you just have to be FAST to get it.
Once the menu is open, you simply hover over "CPU Affinity" -> "Always", then select "Select CPU Affinity". From there, deselect ALL CPUs that show up on the list save for either CPU0 or CPU1, your choice. After that, have EA repair the game again, and start it up, and it should work.
The bad news is that this DOES disable multi-core in TSM, so your performance might stutter somewhat, even with modern hardware. We'd need a patch to get multi-core support for TSM (2- and/or 4-core), but EA would have to release that. More important for them is that they need to release a patch that sets TSM to CPU Affinity=1 on install, to prevent this problem in the first place.
Step by Step instructions, assuming you use Lasso like I did (WARNING: PROCEED WITH CAUTION!):
1) Install Game as normal (I used original CD, but should work with EA App, too)
2) Open Project Lasso
3) Run TSM
4) VERY QUICKLY right click on TSM process in Lasso (must be done while TSM is actively running, so you will have to be FAST since it'll crash quickly!)
5) Hover over "CPU Affinity"
6) Hover over "Always"
7) Select "Select CPU Affinity"
8) Deselect all CPUs in the list (there's a button "Clear" for this)
9) Select either CPU0 OR CPU1 (NOT BOTH, just the one!)
10) Select "OK".
11) Close TSM if it's still running
12) (optional) Run EA App's "Repair" utility on TSM
13) Launch the game
Hope this helps people! Now let's all give those Dire Chinchillas what for!!
@darkmage0707077 Woot! At least we may have found a cause for this! Will pass this along so EA can look at what has happened.
Hey I just found another solution which is very easy and without the risks!
Step 1: Open the EA app
Step 2: Open your taskmanager
Step 3: In taskmanager, go to details (I found mine at the left bar of the app)
Step 4: Find EADesktop.exe in the list and right click it
Step 5: Find 'set affinity' and click on it
Step 6: Deselect all processors, and then click on CP1 so that only CP1 is selected
Step 7: Click on OK and try to run Sims Medieval!
So now you've manually let the game run on only 1 CP because the game does not like multiple CPs. It is just like what the other options here have done, but now you don't have to download anything or put in a script or anything. Very easy fix for me! On youtube you can watch all the steps on the video of the creator Aleks Rozwałka-Attebery, I only put their video into words here!
